East of the Forest
by TheVanishedGirl
Summary: Athena meets a young girl at the edge of a forest. I guess this is kind of like a fable. I hope you like it. I'm sorry if it's horrible; I am relatively proud of this, but I have definitely written better. Thanks.


Author's Note: This is a fable type story about Athena and some random mortal girl. The plot itself is probably a little cliche but I like to think that I put a new twist on it. Please read and review! I'd love constructive criticism as well as positive comments, but I'd also love it if you worded it politely. (For example, "Your story needs work", rather then, "Your story is the worst thing I ever read"!) I think that's reasonable, right. Thanks.

The grey eyed goddess strolled around the edge of the forest. It was dusk. She knew that it was only a matter of time before her younger sister, Artemis, showed up to bring the moon to the forest. The fiery lights of the village to the east dazzled her eyes. They were pretty lights.

For generations she wandered the outskirts of the villages along the coast and mountains, sometimes stopping to talk to travelers. The conversations were usually futile. Most mortals couldn't keep up with her. They were rude, and selfish, and more often than not, stupid. Almost since the beginning of humanity, she had been waiting to find a mortal whom could reinforce her faith in humans. She had been wondering if the creation of them had been a mistake.

On this particular occasion, Athena had been watching the comings and goings of the people of this village all day. They were not very interesting. She had also been listening to their equally mundane conversations. None of them were sinister, but none of them made her feel any better about the species, either.

She waved to Artemis as she saw the first glistenings of moon light. Artemis waved back. Athena gave a small smile. Despite neither of them having very friendly personalities, she and the moon goddess had always been close. It helped that Artemis was just as cold as she was, which wasn't easy, but then again, Artemis was a goddess of the night.

Athena was continuing her stroll down the path at the edge of the village when all of a sudden, she collided head on with a young girl, who dropped her bag of sticks. Athena muttered an ancient curse. She was about to turn to leave when she saw the look of desperation in the young girl's eyes. Sighing, she bent over and started to help her gather up her sticks.

"Oh, no, ma'am," the young girl said, "It's OK. Honest. I can get them. You can continue on your way." Athena was quite surprised. This child was polite. She was earnest. She did not appear to be tainted yet by the selfishness of mankind.

"What is your name, child?" the goddess asked, gently.

"Acadia, ma'am," the young girl said, a touch of fear in her voice.

" _Thorny Tree_ ," Athena translated, automatically, under her breath, "That's a pretty name."

"Thank you, ma'am. And thank you for helping me with my sticks," Acadia smiled shily.

"How old are you?"

"Nine summers old."

She was young, the goddess thought. Especially for an immortal's standards, when anything under five hundred was in its infancy, this child was tiny. She was still innocent, Athena mused.

"Do you need directions, ma'am?" the child asked, apparently misreading the goddess's contemplative look.

Athena thought.

"Yes," she started slowly, "Could you walk me to the nearest stream?"

"Yes," Acadia said, "It's not far in this direction." She gestured to the west.

They started the walk, under the guidance of the moon. Artemis was apparently watching. Athena pictured her laughing softly to herself from her position in her silver chariot.

 _Curse you, Sister_ , she thought, _Not everyone can talk to maidens like you can_.

"Have you always lived in this village?" Athena asked, feeling especially unwise for a strategy goddess. She really knew nothing of talking to children. Innocence was the mirror opposite of wisdom, she mused. In some ways, they were nothing alike; knowledge came from experiencing, whereas innocence was not knowing, however, true pure knowledge was unprejudiced, exactly like innocence.

It was a soft, quiet evening. Athena left the forest that night feeling no more joyful for humanity, but just a little bit more hopeful for the individual spirit.

Author's Note: I hope that this wasn't horrible. I'm truly sorry if it was; thanks for reading, anyways. By the way, Acadia is actually ancient Greek for "thorny tree." Thanks, TheVanishedGirl.


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